Thunder mascot scares reporter Brooke Olzendam
By Brandon Contes on

Oklahoma City Thunder mascot Rumble the Bison is a little creepy, which Portland Trail Blazers sideline reporter Brooke Olzendam can attest to.

Before Oklahoma City’s Monday night matchup with Portland, Olzendam was standing courtside preparing to go on camera when Rumble snuck up behind her. With Rumble standing over her shoulder for a few seconds, Olzendam eventually caught a glimpse of the giant bison and took off in fear. Rumble, meanwhile, pranced away in the other direction.

Despite her apparent surprise when Rumble snuck up behind her, Olzendam teased that she was anticipating a potential encounter with the Thunder mascot. Sunday night, Olzendam tweeted a chummy picture next to Rumble with the caption, “Ran into my nemesis, tonight. He told me I should be scared tomorrow night…Well, his eyes did.”

 

Olzendam was on the lookout for a potential encounter because this wasn’t the first time the sideline reporter was scared by Rumble. The Thunder mascot did something similar to the reporter when she and the Trail Blazers were visiting Oklahoma City a few years ago.

Olzendam appears to have some sort of feud with NBA mascots in general, because she was similarly pranked by Pierre the New Orleans Pelican in 2017.

https://twitter.com/outsidethenba/status/841813447272763392

Despite the long running rivalry, and seemingly obvious prearranged bit, there was something the Trail Blazers didn’t like about Rumble’s creepy encounter with Olzendam Monday night, because after posting the video on social media, the team deleted the tweet early Tuesday morning.

[Brooke Olzendam]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com

View all posts by Brandon Contes